Today is a bad day. You feel down and moody, and nothing seems to make you happy. You’ve tried everything: eating delicious meals, watching a movie, jumping from one video to another on YouTube, looking for someone to talk to on the phone, and playing video games. But nothing seems to work.
So assuming you aren’t able to pinpoint the cause of your bad day, here is a list of 6 rules I use to navigate such days.
Rule number 1: Stop telling yourself that you’re having a bad day.
There are no inherently bad days. When you label a day as “bad,” you create negative feelings in your mind. Some people go so far as to label their entire lives as unlucky or filled with bad days, but this only reinforces negative thinking.
Excuses like “This guy ruined my day” are just ways to avoid taking responsibility for your own happiness. If you build your identity around having bad days, you’ll find it difficult to ever have a good day because it simply isn’t part of your mindset.
Rule number 2: What is your inner voice telling you?
Try listening to your inner voice to determine why you are feeling unwell. Perhaps it’s due to a lack of physical activity, proper nutrition, or social interaction. Maybe there was a sudden change in your daily routine, or you stopped drinking coffee or consuming sugar. Alternatively, you may have received sad news from a friend. If you cannot determine the exact cause of your low mood, you may need to do more inner work. Perhaps the answer involves multiple layers of causes, and there may be levels of inner connection that you cannot sense because you have not yet reached the level of understanding of what the universe is telling you.
Rule number 3: Sometimes there is simply no specific reason for not being in an energetic mood.
When you cannot understand what is going on inside, it is best to stop trying to make sense of it and to stop asking yourself why you are in a bad mood. The more you push yourself to do something you are unable to do, the worse it becomes. Our minds are like springs; the more you push them, the harder the reaction will be. So go easy on yourself if you don’t find a proper answer
Rule number 4: Know thyself.
After more than 8 years of journaling and documenting my moods and feelings, I realized that life is characterized by cyclical movements rather than linear ones. This understanding helped me to know when to spend time alone, when to take a day of rest, when to go for a swim, and so on. From my experience, I have learned that if I do not take a day of rest every three weeks, my mood can crash, especially if I have a lot of social gatherings, meetings, and other extroverted activities. Therefore, I have learned to accept the cycles of low and high energy. It is not possible to maintain peak energy levels all the time.
Rule number 5: Don’t judge yourself, don’t beat yourself
If you’re feeling low on energy, even a triple-double shot of espresso may not be enough to make you feel energized. That’s because your energy levels need to be rebalanced and upgraded. The more inner energy you can create, the fewer moody days you’ll experience. However, it’s important to remember that it’s okay not to be okay. Don’t push yourself if you’re not feeling well.
Rule number 6: Enjoy Your Low-Energy Day
This is a strategy that you may find difficult to implement, but trust me, it has helped me on multiple occasions when I’m feeling down or unwell. The rule is to embrace your low-energy state. Why? Because a low-mood day is often a sign that you will soon be back to your normal state of great energy and productivity. So don’t dwell on feeling sorry for yourself; instead, embrace the experience and look forward to feeling better soon. By doing so, you can illuminate the path to happiness and a more fulfilling life.
Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments if you found these six rules helpful or if there’s anything I missed. Your feedback is valuable and will help me improve future content. Wishing you all the best on your journey towards greater well-being!